Once Upon a Time
by ragdolljazz
Summary: Kayleigh was always unhappy being a snake among badgers, and so when she's sent back in time to catch the real Heir of Slytherin and keep an eye on Tom Riddle too she jumps at the chance. But as everyone knows, the best made plans ALWAYS go awry. -HIATUS-
1. Beginnings

**And so begins another story! Hopefully this one will be updated faster than my others! I've had this plot in my head for about two months, and I'm really happy I finally get to start it! Please tell me any mistakes, as I don't have a beta, and PLEASE tell me if you think Kayleigh's a Mary-Sue!**

*******

_Wand. Need to get my wand. Where the fuck did I put it? Shit, there's only five minutes left in lunch! Where did I leave it?_

Kayleigh Nadine Quieras-Jones was standing in the middle of the Entrance Hall, her hands balled into fists at her sides, a deep scowl on her face. She was already in a bad mood due to the attacks on the muggleborns that kept happening. She was perfectly happy that they were petrified, but she wanted to know who was controlling the stupid 'Monster of Slytherin'. She hated muggleborns as a rule, but she had befriended _one_; Linda Cassony, another sixth year Hufflepuff, and would sincerely hate to see the one tolerable muggleborn frozen into a statue like the rest of the idiots.

Kayleigh was not quite the typical daughter of a blood-traitor family. She was a blood-traitor to blood-traitors, so she couldn't decide if that made her a blood-traitor or a blood-supremacist. But all she knew is that muggleborns were stealing the magic from the old pureblood families, but nobody from Hufflepuff agreed with her, so now she was being _shunned_! Shunned by a bunch of loyal freaks who couldn't tell the difference between a kneazle and an owl! She knew she should have been in Slytherin, but her clumsiness and forgetfulness meant that she was stuck with the Hufflepuffs. Also she asked the hat not to be in Slytherin; otherwise her family may have disinherited her, calling her 'dark'. And with her extravagant lifestyle and lack of work ethic, being cut off from her family's extensive bank account would be disastrous.

She sighed and rubbed her eyes, trying to think back and remember where she had left her wand. She wasn't even entirely sure she had brought it back to her dormitory the night before, and when she asked Linda if she would summon her wand for her, she had refused! The urge to hex her into next week was truly overwhelming, but she didn't have her fucking _wand_, and Linda's wand would never work properly against its owner.

_Stupid wand._ She scowled, beginning to walk around the castle, determined to find her wand, and hex Linda as soon as she got the chance.

"I think that's illegal..." a soft voice from behind a door immediately captured Kayleigh's attention. Probably because of the word 'illegal'.

"Would you rather the world be as it is now?" Now she was definitely interested, she was sure that voice was Professor Dumbledore's. She knelt down to the keyhole and pressed her ear against it, eager to know what was going on.

"No, but..." Aha! Professor McGonagall. That stupid bitch who gave her a detention for forgetting her wand. They were just taking _notes_ for Merlin's sake!

"But nothing." Professor Dumbledore interrupted sternly. "This is the best way I can think of to kill two birds with one stone."

Kayleigh frowned deeply. Why was Dumbledore trying to kill two birds? And why was he using stones? Curses worked so much easier.

"But won't we need a volunteer?" Her frown disappeared instantly. A chance to kill two birds? Sounds like fun, whatever the reason behind it.

"I'll do it!" she announced, bursting into the room where Professors McGonagall and Dumbledore were sitting. They spun around instantly, shock on both of their faces.

"Miss. Jones!" Professor McGonagall frowned.

"_Quieras_-Jones." She corrected, annoyed at the omission.

"So, Miss Quieras-Jones, you are willing to partake in this... Mission?" Professor Dumbledore asked, his blue eyes twinkling, staring into her brown ones.

"Yes." She nodded.

"And I assume you know what it entails?"

"I think so." She replied uncertainly.

"You _think_ so?" Professor McGonagall snorted. Kayleigh glared at her. They never had gotten along.

"Well, I would like some clarification as to what this mission involves." She snapped, a bit of her Mexican accent slipping through as her temper rose.

"Very good." Professor Dumbledore said serenely, completely oblivious to the hostility radiating from the two females. "You will need to travel fifty year back into the past,"

"To kill _birds_?" she asked.

"What? No, no birds. You will need to travel fifty years into the past to catch the _true_ heir of Slytherin."

"Then why did you mention killing birds?" she argued, a bit put out by the lack of bird killing.

"It's a muggle expression." Professor McGonagall explained.

"Gross." She muttered without thinking, her face screwed up in disgust at the mention of the word muggle.

"You will also be asked to keep an eye out for Ton Riddle." Dumbledore continued, "He began to get worse in seventh year, so we believe that something must have happened. Probably girl trouble." He added with a twinkle in his eye, contrasting his serious face. "So you must keep all girls away from him."

"What about boys?" she asked, "Maybe he found out he was gay and got really depressed about it. And why do you care so much about this Tom Riddle guy, lots of students are depressed, but nobody is sent back in time to help _them_."

"Because not all students end up as Dark Wizards." Professor McGonagall snapped.

"Dark wizard? Which one?" Kayleigh asked, a glint in her eye.

"Lord Voldemort." Professor Dumbledore replied simply, earning himself flinches from both other occupants of the room.

"Sure, I guess I'll do it." Kayleigh conceded, shrugging. "Will I still have to do work?"

Professor Dumbledore opened his mouth to speak before being interrupted by Professor McGonagall.

"Yes! And when you get back no time will have passed so you will do the year _twice_." She said, trying to sway Kayleigh's decision, wanting someone else to go back, someone less likely to join Lord Voldemort if he asked.

"Yes but I'll already have done it once so it'll be really easy the second time around and I'll get awesome marks." She grinned, leaning against the wall just in time for the bell to sound, signalling the end of lunch. "Hey, Professor Dumbledore, do you think you could summon my wand for me, I can't find it." She added, not wanting to get into any more trouble.

"Of course." He smiled, and with a wave of his wand her wand zoomed out of her book bag and into his outstretched hand.

She blushed and accepted it, rushing out of the door to potions class, muttering her thanks.

"Be here tomorrow after dinner. We'll do it then." She heard him call after her.


	2. Time Travel

**Err, pretty much just a filler chapter, I'm sorry ^^; Just felt like having a chapter for the actual time travel... SO, enjoy! (if that's even possible...)**

*******

At twenty after six Kayleigh found herself outside the room she met Professor Dumbledore in the previous day, looking nervously at the door, not sure whether or not to knock, unsure of her decision to go back in time.

"Come in." Professor Dumbledore's voice rang out through the door, and she immediately walked in, afraid of disobeying the headmaster.

"Hello." She whispered, looking all around the room.

"Hello. Now, if you would stand here we could begin." He smiled.

"What about my stuff?"

"We won't worry about clothes or a trunk, as I will supply you with a new wardrobe, more suitable for the time period," he smiled, that blasted twinkle back in his eyes. "And all your personal belongings are here for you to choose which to take.

She glanced around the room, only just noticing her stuff in a dark corner, and was that... Was that her... _Oh shit_.

Her face turned bright red as she noticed what book was lying open on the table next to Dumbledore.

"I- I c-can explain that s-sir..." she stuttered, her copper skin flushed, unable to meet her Headmaster's eyes.

"Oh I don't think that will be necessary." He smiled his tone unusually light for the situation. "I've seen much worse than that over my years as headmaster."

"I doubt by much." She protested, oddly annoyed that her trashiest book wasn't even the worst he'd read in what, the last century?

"No, not by much. Now, if you will please stand _inside_ the circle," he said, gesturing to a spot on the floor, which was now covered in glowing symbols that Kayleigh was _sure_ weren't there a second ago, "and we can begin."

As she stepped dutifully inside the circle, panic shot up in her chest, and her brain started screaming at her. _What are you doing?_

"P-professor?" she stammered, fighting to keep the fear out of her voice. "W-will this h-hurt?"

"Oh yes, quite." He smiled calmly, oblivious to the squeak from the young girl. "You'll most likely feel like you're dying, and I've heard that by the end you wish you were. Of course, there are more painless methods, but those would mean losing your memory, and there's really no point trying to do anything if you're not going to remember to do it.

Of course, you'll most likely forget little things, like what colour the sea is, or the names of your old friends, but that will all most likely come back to you when you get back to our time. Of course, there's always the possibility that you'll go insane, but we covered this all yesterday."

"W-we _did_?" she shrieked, her legs shaking so badly she was surprised she was still standing.

"Oh, didn't we?" his blue eyes filled with shock at the look of pure horror on Kayleigh's face, but shook it off easily. "Well, before I forget about _this_, please choose your belongings."

She nodded shakily, moving around Professor Dumbledore to grab the book on the table, her face flushed as she read the passage the Headmaster had apparently left off at. She moved to the pile of her belongings and grabbed a few more books, her blush becoming more pronounced as she tried to hide them from the professor. After collecting all her things she tossed them into her book bag and stood back into the circle, significantly calmer than she had been mere minutes before.

"Now," he began, more serious than she had seen him today, "you will go back just in time to catch the Hogwarts Express, and you will _immediately_ begin your search for Tom Riddle, as I believe he may have ties to the Heir of Slytherin. You will not draw attention to yourself, and _please_ don't give yourself away as a time traveller, it's rather illegal."

"Got it." She nodded, managing a small smile as her old confidence returned.

"Okay then, get ready." He commanded closing his eyes and beginning to chant in some foreign language that she couldn't understand.

Kayleigh looked around herself in amazement, beams of pure white light were radiating from the glowing lines on the floor, shooting up to the ceiling and melting down the walls, dissolving the room into a never-ending white field. She giggled as the warm beams touched her skin, not understanding why people said it was excruciatingly painful.

The giggles turned to yelps as one of the beams heated up fast, and eventually progressed into screams as the beam became boiling hot, slicing through the flesh on her arm, causing it to bubble and morph, before the pain stopped. She breathed a sigh of relief before all of the beams turned hot suddenly, piercing her from all angles and causing her skin to feel as if it were melting off. She fell to her knees, begging Professor Dumbledore to stop, to kill her now, his voice the only constant thing in this Hell. The beams suddenly relented and she knelt there shaking on all fours, panting heavily as if she had just run a marathon, tears falling thick and fast down her cheeks. She wasn't used to physical pain, and this torture quickly reduced her to a quivering heap.

She finally began to move, trying to stand up when all the beams of light burst from her body and disintegrated her flesh, her cry of anguish failing to make it past her burnt throat.

***

Professor Dumbledore blinked in surprise. The girl, who had been crying and screaming in pain earlier, begging for death, had simply disappeared. He had expected something a tad more dramatic, lights, wind, even just a popping sound, but no; there was nothing she was simply there one moment and gone the next. He sighed, hoping he hadn't done something wrong as she sat down and waited, knowing he wouldn't have to wait for long to know if he had succeeded.


	3. Revelations

**Gah, finally got this out. School's been crazy and with Thanksgiving and all... Well, some insanity ensued. I don't think my thumb will ever be the same again :( So enjoy this crappiest of all the chapters! Oh, and I know that she wouldn't be put in Azkaban for underage magic, but she's a tad melodramtic and oh so very cocky, so she'd tell everyone how she norrowly escaped being thrown in Azkaban due to her superior duelling skillz. Yes, with a Z**

**And OMG, Tom sighting! XD **

*******

Pain. That's all she felt. It was as if the whole world wanted to cause her as much pain as possible and all Kayleigh wanted to do was curl into a ball and cry and whine about the unfairness of it all. However as soon as it had started it stopped and Kayleigh found herself sitting in the darkness without a shred of light. She contemplated whether she was actually dead- if Professor Dumbledore had eventually taken pity on her- but immediately scrapped that idea. If she were dead, she wouldn't have a body, and therefore would not be _sitting_ in some dark place with the cold seeping through her clothes to smother her skin. And so to test that theory she tried experimentally to flex her fingers and ended up hissing in pain.

Okay, so movement was a go, but it hurt like a bitch. She carefully stood up trying not to wince and brushed herself off, immediately noticing that her skirt was a lot longer than she would wear it at Hogwarts. She also noticed as she ran a hand through her hair that it was shorter _and _curly and there was a hat sitting on top of her head. Cursing Dumbledore and what he possibly did to the rest of her she began banging around wildly, realising quickly that she was in some sort of box. So of course she did the only reasonable thing to do in these kinds of situations; whipped out her wand and started blasting everything in sight, because well, if the Ministry catches her she'll only be in Azkaban for a year, and she was _sure_ she could handle it.

Thankfully though one of her curses blasted a hole in the box and some light shone through, showing Kayleigh that she wasn't in a box, but an empty broom closet and judging by the sound of trains from the other side of the supposedly soundproof closet she figured she was at Kings Cross Station. She shook her head up and put on her most aristocratic face as she stepped out of the closet; ignoring the funny looks she was given. She looked back inside to see if there was anything she needed to take with her (inconspicuously of course, no need to draw even more attention herself) and saw a pearly white clutch sitting on top of a mahogany chest with a faded yellowish letter balanced precariously on the top. Frowning slightly, as she didn't remember these objects being in the closet earlier, she grabbed the letter and read it quickly.

_Miss Quieras-Jones,_

_If you receive this letter it means that we were successful in bringing you to the past. All of your personal items are stored in the bag (courtesy of Professor McGonagall) and all your school books and new clothes are in the chest. I do hope you will find everything to your liking._

_Now, you must be sure not to let anyone know you are from the future as it could cause disastrous results. And as such, you will introduce yourself simply as Kayleigh Quieras, a new student whose parents died suddenly in Mexico and sent you to live in England with your frail grandmother Lucretia. Please try not to antagonise the students, but try to befriend as many as possible in order to gather as much information as possible about the Heir of Slytherin._

_A letter to myself is in your trunk, detailing this particular experiment so that you will have someone to talk to about how your mission goes, and as such, I will learn of it as well. My past self will deal with any issues about your enrolment._

_Please keep yourself safe,_

_Albus Dumbledore._

Kayleigh stared at the letter for a while, before one word sunk itself deep into her retinas. _McGonagall? _Why did she get to choose the bag Kayleigh had to walk around with all year? It's only fair that if she were the one using the bag, she should get to pick it, at least in her mind.

She suddenly became aware that the stations were emptying and that the clock was still ticking, and of course that nobody knew she was a student at Hogwarts yet and so nobody would miss her if she missed the train. She broke into a sort of dignified run towards the barrier between platforms nine and ten, hurrying to get there before it sealed itself off. She made it through with ten seconds to spare and so she ran full pelt towards the scarlet steam engine, thankfully not noticing how rickety it looked because if she had there was no way she would ever get on the death trap.

She had just jumped onto the train when it began to move, lurching forwards jerkily and almost knocking her off her feet. As it was however, her trunk fell over and refused to go back up. She began considering blasting it to smithereens when the train lurched the opposite way, knocking her over fully and lifting up her trunk.

"I hate trains." She muttered, shakily climbing to her feet and brushing herself off, only just realising something she should have realised a while ago. She was wearing gloves.

Her breathing hitched as she stared at the pink fabric and she glanced down at herself, realising why the muggles had been giving her such funny looks. Her knee length dress was just so _old_ looking that it was no wonder people were looking. Although since it was the olden days, maybe she was dressed properly? But as she looked at the brown dress she couldn't help but doubt it. With a travel-weary sigh she began dragging her trunk down the train to find an empty compartment, or some first years who wouldn't think it odd that they didn't recognise her. As it was there was a small compartment at the very end of the train that looked both empty, and extraordinarily dirty.

With a sigh and a quick scourgify she sat down heavily, distinctly unimpressed with the past so far. Images of her friends and family shot through her mind and she almost found herself tearing up as she realised she wouldn't see any of them for a year. There was absolutely no upside to being put in the past except for the fact that now she would be a Slytherin she realised. And she _acted _like a Slytherin most of the time anyway so why did she need to go back into the past?

_For some stupid title._ She thought bitterly, clenching her fists and blinking back the tears that threatened to fall as she realised the mistake she had made. She should have let them send someone braver, smarter, and selfless; someone who was everything Kayleigh wasn't.

That is until she looked around her compartment and caught sight of the most drop-dead gorgeous man she ever had the pleasure of laying eyes on standing right outside and chatting with some of his friends.

_Maybe there _will_ be an upside to all of this..._ she thought as she stood up, brown eyes gleaming as she caught sight of the Slytherin tie on his chest.


	4. First Impressions

**A/N: Sorry this took so long, I've been focusing more on my original work and I've been neglecting my poor fanfictions! That and the approaching exams, I'm a little stressed out... But hopefully now with the Christmas holidays I should be able to update more often (I hope)... And in case you're wondering why Kayleigh seems to flip flop from hitting on him and taunting him- have you ever liked a guy that was a total jerk to you so you go from being a jerk back to trying to make him like you? Anyone? Well anyways, enjoy? If possible *sigh***

* * *

When Kayleigh reached the door however, the man she had been eyeing whispered something to his group of followers and they disappeared into the enormous train.

_Oh no you don't_. She thought petulantly, very annoyed that her prey had escaped her grasp. Coming to an immediate conclusion, she opened her compartment door confidently and strode down the long aisle in pursuit of the object of her affections.

She found him near the front of the train lounging elegantly with his long limbs crossed neatly, his friends gazing adoringly up at him. Kayleigh herself in fact, had to shake her head sharply to quell the look of adoration spreading across her face as she basked in his obvious confidence and good looks. She plastered a bright smile onto her face and knocked once on their compartment door before striding in.

However, the combined glares of each member of the compartment shattered all of her fake confidence and she became immediately self-conscious, unaware of the state she was in due to the lack of mirrors.

_Oh shit, how did (do?) they talk back then... now?_

"Er, prithee! Dost thou knowest where... yonder Riddle breaks?" she asked, her copper skin flushing heavily as the compartment's entrants' glares turned into stares of confusion.

"Are you looking for Tom Riddle?" the attractive one asked, an amused drawl the only hint that he was affected at all by the girl who stood in front of him.

"Er, yes." She said, trying to keep her gaze steady as he looked at her.

"Of course she is!" one of the other occupants laughed. "All of the girls are looking for Tom!"

"And, of all of the girls I don't believe I've met you," said the attractive one. "And you look a little old to be a first year."  
As the others howled with laughter Kayleigh felt her shyness melt away at the indignation she felt.

"Yes, and you look a little old to be behaving like a spoiled prat!" she snapped, immediately regretting her words as all wands were drawn on her accompanied with growls.

_Am I in a room of dogs?_ She wondered idly, her gaze still on the man in front of her. He held up a hand to stop the hexes on the tip of everyone's tongue and stood up elegantly, moving as smoothly as liquid as her circled around Kayleigh like a vulture eyeing up a dead carcass.

"And who are you to judge me as spoiled?" he asked smoothly and softly, but with a cutting undertone like a feather pillow filled with shards of glass.

"Kayleigh Quieras, a transfer student from Mexico." She replied haughtily, her nose high in the air.

"Muggleborn?"

"_No!_" she said indignantly. "How _dare_ you insult me like that you filthy little half-blood!"

Within seconds she had a wand at her throat and a furious man (yet still oddly attractive, even with that interesting red gleam in his grey eyes. _Mmmm... grey eyes like morning mist and molten silver... Wait! Get a hold of yourself woman!_) with his face mere centimetres away from her own.

"I don't know where you get that idea Miss. 'Quieras', but you'd better dispel it at once, lest you find an unfortunate accident befalls you very, _very_ soon."

"Oh please, I get death threats daily from men twice as threatening as you, so no need to wave you wand all over the place, it's very unbecoming." She scoffed as she resisted the urge to close the small gap between them and kiss his totally-should-be-illegal-I-wonder-if-he-wears-lip-gloss-pink lips.

Those particular lips were pulled back into a malicious smirk, which just served to make him even more attractive and cause Kayleigh's stomach to do weird little flips.

"I disagree; I find that I'm quite a big threat, especially to pretentious little girls like you."

"Oh? I disagree to your disagreement." She smirked right back at him, tossing her head and feeling very dissatisfied as her usually long locks simply bounced in their current state.

"And I disagree your disagreement to my- oh this is just bloody ridiculous!"

"Sounds like someone's cranky, need a nap?"She asked innocently, batting her eyes and vainly hoping he noticed her lashes like many did back home.

"No I do not need a nap thank you very much." He growled softly.

"Pity, maybe we could have taken one together." She said, sending him a lustful look that he deflected with a sneer.

"All the more reason for me to stay awake then."

Kayleigh felt her chin lift higher into the air as her hair bounced around her jaw as if it was feeling her indignation as much as she was. "Jerk."

"It's been said." He smirked confidently, putting his wand away.

"I'm not surprised." She muttered, glaring at the man as her usually impeccable posture shifted into a comfortable slouch. "Frankly I'm amazed this many people can put up with you."

"Yes, well you have no idea who I am."

"I know you're not a pureblood, and therefore not worth my time anyway."

"And how do you know that?" he asked raising an eyebrow.

"Because even if you have the same general features as a Black, your cheekbones and jaw are too effeminate to be a Black's, and the only other possible family you could belong to with your face are the Malfoy's but they're notorious for their blonde hair." Kayleigh answered smugly, straightening up again. "And so you're either a half-blood or a mudblo- muggleborn."

"I see you're very familiar with British purebloods for an immigrant."

"Well that's just more proof of your status; all purebloods are trained to recognise _every_ pureblood family immediately. Anyone of _importance_ should know that."

"She has a good point." One of the other's in the carriage said, the rest nodding their head thoughtfully.

"She's _wrong_!" he hissed furiously.

"Or you're just in denial," she trilled, her most annoying and cocky smile plastered on her face.

"Get _out_!"

"Fine, _fine_! Are you PMSing or something?"

His face took on an unfortunate purplish hue as he refrained himself from blasting her head off as she waved her manicured nails at him and disappeared with a doubly pleasant and condescending "ta ta".

After several deep breaths the dark-haired boy sank down into his seat once more and conversation returned to its natural flow- namely the attractive one talking and bad-mouthing muggles and/or muggleborns while the other listen attentively and (in some cases) take notes. However the flow was once again interrupted when the door slid open and a now-familiar head poked through.

"Hey, I never did catch your name, Mr..." Kayleigh said through the gap in the door.

"Riddle, Mr. Tom Riddle." The one named Tom smirked as she paled considerably and swallowed hard.

"Ah. Good day then. Mr. Riddle." She said as her head disappeared from view and the door shut slowly and quietly, hiding Tom's smirk from view.

_So much for first impressions. _

And with that thought Kayleigh walked over to the nearest wall and began banging her head against it until she was suitably dazed and out of it enough to temporarily forget the conversation she just butchered.

_Well, this is gonna be a fun year._

Kayleigh's year started to go downhill the second she stepped off the train. Where everybody else was wearing the greys and black of the Hogwarts uniform she was still in her conspicuous baby pink and brown dress, and garnering some very strange looks from passersby. She floundered on the train's platform, not knowing exactly what to do or where to go. She caught sight of a vaguely familiar face and she sighed in relief, heading towards him.

"Hagrid! Hagrid I need your help!" she cried, pushing her way through the crowd and heading towards the half-giant. However she stopped short when he turned around quizzically to face her- he was _young_, probably still a student!

"Can I help yeh?" he asked in that voice that had always grated on Kayleigh's nerves. She shuddered slightly (_Learn how to speak English _properly_ you great oaf!_) and then shook her head.

"No, sorry, I thought you were someone else." She commented airily, as if there were hundreds of oversized thirteen year olds named Hagrid wandering around in Scotland. "Sorry to have bothered you."

She span on her heel quickly, her face an unpleasant shade of red due to her worry and increasing nervousness as the carriages drove away, pulled by the same invisible horses as in her time.

"Do you need any help?" asked a sarcastic, aristocratic voice from behind her. She shuddered slightly as the speaker's warm breath brushed over the exposed skin on her neck, but in a completely different way from when she was speaking to Hagrid. She turned around with her best disdainful stare on her face as she turned and faced the attractive boy from the train.

"Hello you," she said in her most polite yet insulting tone (perfected from five years of being around Hufflepuffs). "I'm perfectly fine thank you, why don't you go run back to your little lapdogs. They might get lost without you."

"Well it seems that _you're_ getting lost without me. If you wanted I could show you the ropes around here." He offered in an incredibly charming tone, and Kayleigh would have said yes if she hadn't caught sight of the evil glint in his eyes and the slight pull of his perfect lips as he spoke.

"Well that's _very_ kind of you," she drawled. "But I'm perfectly fine finding my way around _by myself_ thank you."

However this seemed to be the wrong thing to say as his face quickly transformed into a frown and back again, his expression blank but with an undercurrent of sadistic amusement.

"Well then, I'll leave you to it. Good luck finding your way around in a _foreign_ port such as this. I wish you all the best." He said, taking a short, mocking bow, his eyes challenging her to react.

Kayleigh looked him straight in the eyes and forced a laugh even as her insides churned in apprehension. "Like I need you, Riddle."

"You may not need me, but you _want_ me." He smirked, crossing his arms over his chest and drawing Kayleigh's eyes to the muscle on his arms hidden behind the thin fabric of his dress shirt.

She continued to stare mindlessly for a while until a sharp cough brought her back to the present... past, whatever. She looked sheepishly back into Riddle's face as he cocked an eyebrow and smirked. She blushed furiously before she remembered what exactly he had said earlier and she frowned.

"Wait, what? I do not _want_ you, that's ridiculous! Where did you even get such an absurd notion?"

He rolled his grey eyes exasperatedly, before replying, "Well, disregarding everything you said on the train that pointed to that rather obvious conclusion," Kayleigh flushed as she remembered her actions on the train, "your pupils have dilated quite a lot since I've arrived."

"Ah," she replied knowledgably, nodding her head gently. "What does that mean?"

He simply scoffed and turned away, walking a little way before looking around and stopping. All the carriages had left and the two were stuck at the train station.

"Guess we're walking together." Kayleigh said brightly as she walked up next to him. It wasn't her first time missing the carriages, in second year she had attempted to get into the boats again, and after a long argument with Hagrid realised that the carriages he insisted she was _supposed_ to take had all left.

"I think not." Riddle snarled, and pushed her away. It wasn't his fault that she tripped, it wasn't his fault that she lost her balance so badly, and it certainly wasn't his fault that she rolled down into the lake, but that didn't stop her from whipping out her wand so fast it seemed like her hand hadn't moved and screaming out the first spell that came to her mind.

"_Aguamenti!_" she cried, shaking a water lily out of her hair. She scowled up at the sopping wet boy in front of her and didn't even notice him bringing out his own wand in retaliation until she was hit by his spell.

"Rictusempra!" And with that one word she fell back into the lake, laughing and gasping for breath she couldn't find under the water's surface. Slowly her lungs filled with the murky water and she struggled to breathe, the laughter still attacking her and causing her to breathe in yet more water.

Her vision blurred and her chest and head ached horribly, and she vaguely realised she was dying only a few hours into her job.

_I've probably failed the world._ She thought moodily, her vision clouding over entirely with black with her mouth still curved into a reluctant grin. _All those people who died... They're not going to be saved, all because I'm an idiot._

She drifted off into unconsciousness, her body still seizing with unbidden laughter, and realised with sudden clarity how much she wished she were dying at home surrounded by her friend and family. Everything surrounding her became nothing, the water plants, the stones and clumps of dirt, the small fish darting out of her way; none of it existed, it was not truly there. The only thing that existed was Kayleigh's fleeting conscious thought and the swirls of magic that flowed through her, carrying her soul into another realm.

Her body hit the ground with a soft thump and displacement of sediment which shimmered around her like the finest of fairy dusts. And then the lake was still, perfectly void of movement in a morbid respect. Perfect, that is, until a rather large displacement of water at the surface sent ripples through almost the entire lake, and a torpedo-like object to the bottom.


	5. First Mistake

A/N: hey, sorry this one took so long, I was having technical difficulties and also suffering from a horrible combination of laziness and piles of work. So not much free time, I admit (actually a lot of free time, just most of it was spent watching ST: TOS :p). Sorry. I know this chapter doesn't make up for it, but please tell me where to improve it!

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Kayleigh's year started to go downhill the second she stepped off the train. Where everybody else was wearing the greys and black of the Hogwarts uniform she was still in her conspicuous baby pink and brown dress, and garnering some very strange looks from passersby. She floundered on the train's platform, not knowing exactly what to do or where to go. She caught sight of a vaguely familiar face and she sighed in relief, heading towards him.

"Hagrid! Hagrid I need your help!" she cried, pushing her way through the crowd and heading towards the half-giant. However she stopped short when he turned around quizzically to face her- he was _young_, probably still a student!

"Can I help yeh?" he asked in that voice that had always grated on Kayleigh's nerves. She shuddered slightly (_Learn how to speak English _properly_ you great oaf!_) and then shook her head.

"No, sorry, I thought you were someone else." She commented airily, as if there were hundreds of oversized thirteen year olds named Hagrid wandering around in Scotland. "Sorry to have bothered you."

She span on her heel quickly, her face an unpleasant shade of red due to her worry and increasing nervousness as the carriages drove away, pulled by the same invisible horses as in her time.

"Do you need any help?" asked a sarcastic, aristocratic voice from behind her. She shuddered slightly as the speaker's warm breath brushed over the exposed skin on her neck, but in a completely different way from when she was speaking to Hagrid. She turned around with her best disdainful stare on her face as she turned and faced the attractive boy from the train.

"Hello you," she said in her most polite yet insulting tone (perfected from five years of being around Hufflepuffs). "I'm perfectly fine thank you, why don't you go run back to your little lapdogs. They might get lost without you."

"Well it seems that _you're_ getting lost without me. If you wanted I could show you the ropes around here." He offered in an incredibly charming tone, and Kayleigh would have said yes if she hadn't caught sight of the evil glint in his eyes and the slight pull of his perfect lips as he spoke.

"Well that's _very_ kind of you," she drawled. "But I'm perfectly fine finding my way around _by myself_ thank you."

However this seemed to be the wrong thing to say as his face quickly transformed into a snarl.

"You'll regret that. Rest assured that this year will _not_ be pleasant for you. I could have forgiven your earlier indiscretions on the train, but now that chance has gone." He growled.

Kayleigh looked him straight in the eyes and forced a laugh even as her insides churned in apprehension. "Like I need you, Riddle. Who says that I even _wanted_ a chance for you to forgive me?"

"Your pupils told me." He smirked, crossing his arms over his chest and drawing Kayleigh's eyes to the muscle on his arms hidden behind the thin fabric of his dress shirt.

She continued to stare mindlessly for a while until a sharp cough brought her back to the present... past, whatever. She looked sheepishly back into Riddle's face as he cocked an eyebrow and smirked. She blushed furiously before she remembered what exactly he had said earlier and she frowned.

"Wait, what? My pupils were talking to you? Without my knowledge? I didn't even know they could do that!"

He rolled his grey eyes exasperatedly, before replying, "No you prat, your pupils dilated. They didn't actually _say_ anything."

"Ah," she replied knowledgably, nodding her head gently. "What does that mean?"

He simply scoffed and turned away, walking a little way before looking around and stopping. All the carriages had left and the two were stuck at the train station.

"Guess we're walking together." Kayleigh said brightly as she walked up next to him. It wasn't her first time missing the carriages, in second year she had attempted to get into the boats again, and after a long argument with Hagrid realised that the carriages he insisted she was _supposed_ to take had all left.

"I think not." Riddle snarled, and pushed her away. It wasn't his fault that she tripped, it wasn't his fault that she lost her balance so badly, and it certainly wasn't his fault that she rolled down into the lake, but that didn't stop her from whipping out her wand so fast it seemed like her hand hadn't moved and screaming out the first spell that came to her mind.

"_Aguamenti!_" she cried, shaking a water lily out of her hair. She scowled up at the sopping wet boy in front of her and didn't even notice him bringing out his own wand in retaliation until she was hit by his spell.

"Rictusempra!" And with that one word she fell back into the lake, laughing and gasping for breath she couldn't find under the water's surface. Slowly her lungs filled with the murky water and she struggled to breathe, the laughter still attacking her and causing her to breathe in yet more water.

Her vision blurred and her chest and head ached horribly, and she vaguely realised she was dying only a few hours into her job.

_I've probably failed the world._ She thought moodily, her vision clouding over entirely with black with her mouth still curved into a reluctant grin. _All those people who died... They're not going to be saved, all because I'm an idiot._

She drifted off into unconsciousness, her body still seizing with unbidden laughter, and realised with sudden clarity how much she wished she were dying at home surrounded by her friend and family. Everything surrounding her became nothing, the water plants, the stones and clumps of dirt, the small fish darting out of her way; none of it existed, it was not truly there. The only thing that existed was Kayleigh's fleeting conscious thought and the swirls of magic that flowed through her, carrying her soul into another realm.

Her body hit the ground with a soft thump and displacement of sediment which shimmered around her like the finest of fairy dusts. And then the lake was still, perfectly void of movement in a morbid respect. Perfect, that is, until a rather large displacement of water at the surface sent ripples through almost the entire lake, and a torpedo-like object to the bottom.


	6. Understanding

**A/N: Oh my gosh, I am so sorry for the wait! I had a horrid combination of laziness and a perma-cold, so I wasn't really feeling up to writing anything. Also I sort of fell out of the Harry Potter fandom (gasp!) but I'm slowly climbing my way back in, which will definitely help this along :p Half of this has been written for like a month now, before I was hit with the cold of death, so I just got around to finishing this. Next chapter should hopefully be up next week unless I have too much stuff to do, in which case it'll be the week after, I promise (and if not you can all come at me with pitchforks!). So er, enjoy?**

* * *

When Kayleigh woke up it was with the strangest sense of nostalgia as she took in the clean white infirmary walls, the portly gray-haired matron bustling about and doing her rounds, the twinkling blue eyes belonging to her headmaster peering at her from the foot of her bed, and the beginning feelings of a hangover.

"Professor Dumbledore sir, I don't think the spell worked," she informed him sadly, hanging her head in shame, "I just hallucinated for a bit before I woke up."

"Indeed? You believe that to be the case?" the Professor asked her carefully, his eyes dancing with a merry light. "Because I've never seen you before, and if this note," he smiled as he held up the note in question, "from my 'future counterpart' is to be believed, whatever spell you may have cast on yourself did in fact work."

"Wait, so I _am_ in the forties, not nineteen eighty-nine?"

"Unless I am being seriously misled I believe this to be the case Miss..."

"Quieras. Kayleigh Quieras." She murmured in wonder, looking around in fascination, cataloguing everything she could see.

"Ah yes. Now, in regards to the… unusual situation we find ourselves in—"

"Wait, I'm sorry, I'm glad you believe me and all," Kayleigh began dubiously, "but why do you trust me? And how come she can't hear us?" she asked, nodding her head towards the matron who now stood staring out the window and the dark sky.

"Ah, well that certainly is an interesting question, and it has only one logical answer. In my experience, when one is to lie in order to do something horrible, the lie is usually believable. Therefore, since your particular lie was so outrageous that one could never believe it was someone to be told, the whole point of the lie would come undone, as nobody would believe them, negating the whole existence of the lie because nobody doing wrong doings wants to be caught out so easily as to use an unrealistic excuse for their actions."

"Meaning?" she asked, her already frail attention drifting further away as she finally allowed herself to feel the headache that had been buzzing around in her head since she woke up.

"The more outrageous the lie, the more likely to be true." He clarified, obviously amused by her blank expression. "And as to why our dear Madame Berger cannot overhear us, well let's just say I have my ways." He said with a mysterious wink.

He stood up to leave and out of a knee-jerk reaction Kayleigh's arm shot forward and grabbed hold of her future headmaster's sleeve.

"Please," she begged desperately, "please stay. I don't know anyone or anything about this time a-and I sort of know you, so please just stay. For a little while at least."

It hurt her pureblood pride to be observed in a moment of such weakness but as she was currently in a new time period and knew next to no one so she decided she could forgive herself.

"Well although I'm sure Headmaster Dippet will be upset that I missed the sorting, we have a while yet until the feast is over."

"Oh, um... thank you." She attempted, unused to expressing gratitude in any form.

"It's no trouble I'm sure." He smiled genially at her.

"Oh, and um, Professor, how am I going to be sorted? I mean, will the hat still sort me or will I have to do some sort of test or something?"

At this Professor Dumbledore paused, unsure. "Well," he began slowly, "this has never happened before, so I assume we shall try to sort you using the hat and if that doesn't work, we can try other methods. Perhaps it would be easiest to sort you into the house you are in in your time?"

"No!" Kayleigh cried quickly, ignoring the spike of pain the noise caused.

"No? Why ever not?" Dumbledore asked, the twinkle in his eyes showing his amusement.

"I hate it there! Everyone's so... amiable." She complained, unable to keep the whine out of her voice.

"And that's a problem for you, is it?"

"Yes! I need people to be jerks, I'm always surrounded by nice people and it gets so tiring!"

"Well I'm sure we can work something out Miss Quieras."

"Thanks Professor." She sighed happily. "Oh, but I have one other question."

"Fire away." Dumbledore said.

"My hair... is it stuck like this?" she asked unhappily, tugging at a short curl.

"I don't believe so, if I know myself as well as I think I do, I don't believe I would actually cut your hair without your permission."

"So it's like, a glamour or something?"

"Indeed."

"Can you, I don't know, _remove it?_"

"Do you think that's wise? If you want to fit in here you'll have to adapt to the trends."

"But I have hair like my _grandmother_!" she whined, giving Dumbledore her best puppy dog eyes.

"All right, but if you're not considered stylish don't blame me." He chuckled as he waved his wand lazily. Kayleigh suddenly felt her hair uncurl and fall to her shoulders in her natural waves.

"Thanks." She yawned, suddenly extremely tired.

"You're very welcome Miss. Quieras," Dumbledore chuckled as the Hospital Wing darkened and blurred, "welcome to Hogwarts."

The next time Kayleigh woke up she had a clear idea of where (and when) she was, and a fairly clear plan of action. The steel-haired matron bustled over to her bedside, glaring at her and tutting disapprovingly.

"Honestly, a duchess like yourself should hardly be gallivanting around in lakes with that Tom Riddle, no matter how much of a drooly he is; it's not proper!" she scolded, ignoring Kayleigh's blank look as she attempted to decipher the clearly foreign language.

"Err, okay?" she attempted, feeling her head ache as the matron forcefully pulled her upright. "But I'm not a duchess Madame..."

"Berger. And you're not a duchess? You sure look like one to me."

"Well thank you, but I'm not, just run of the mill upper class." She explained, rubbing her head carefully.

Madame Berger stared at her for a second before laughing suddenly. "Oh you're a hoot and a half miss, I thought you were serious for a moment there. You can't trick me; I ain't no fuddy-duddy, no matter what all you hep cats and kittens may think, I got my boots on all right!"

"What?" Kayleigh asked weakly, tears burning from behind her eyes as she struggled to understand this crazy woman. "I honestly don't care about your shoes Ma'am, could you please just make my headache go away?"

"Oh, sorry miss! I won't be just a tick!" she grinned, rushing off to a back room to (hopefully) get an anaesthetic.

Kayleigh felt herself sink back down into a lying position, glad to have the opportunity to rest before the far too loud and now far too friendly matron came back in. Which she eventually did, bringing with her a foul smelling and particularly vile looking potion that quite frankly looked entirely poisonous. She took it from the matron with no small amount of trepidation and quickly said a prayer before throwing her head back and downing it in one.

"What _is_ that?" she sputtered, glad she swallowed it all quickly or else the pristine white sheets on her bed would be stained with the horrid potion.

"Why, it's nothing but a Helping Head potion, don't they have them where you're from?" Madame Berger asked curiously. "Where is it that you're from anyway little Miss? You don't look English."

"I'm from Mexico actually, but erm... something happened and I had to come live here with my grandmother... Lucinda?" she tried to explain as the excuse Dumbledore had given her slipped through her mind.

"Well I'm sure you'll have a ball, this here school's the smoothest this side of the Atlantic!"

"Well that's just faboo isn't it?" Kayleigh drawled, feeling much more herself now that the potion kicked in and vanished her headache.

"Oh course it is! Well, you're free to go Miss, but you'd best head up to Professor Dippet's, that old hat will probably want a word with you."

"Why?"

"Well cause you're new! He'll certainly want to help you understand the scene and just give you a welcoming hi-de-ho!"

"Of course," Kayleigh said, "but does he you know... talk like you?"

"What? No, that old fuddy-duddy doesn't get the lingo like I do!" Madame Berger laughed.

"Oh thank god." She sighed in relief, climbing out of her bed.

"What was that?"

"Nothing, nothing." Kayleigh said, already mentally preparing herself for the meeting with the headmaster. Hopefully Dumbledore would be there to act as a liaison. She walked confidently out of the hospital wing but faltered as she passed several students, all who were muttering things like 'B.Y.T', 'dilly' and 'able-grable'. Resigning herself to her new fate of living in a horridly incomprehensible time period, she couldn't help but think:

_This plan just got a whole lot more complicated._

* * *

**In case you were curious, here are the translations for the '40s vernacular:**

**Duchess- girl; Drooly- cute boy; Fuddy-duddy- old fashioned person; Got your boots on- understand what's happening; Smooth- good; Scene- situation; Hi-de-ho- hello; Old hat- outdated; B.Y.T- Bright Young Thing; Dilly/Able-grable- cute girl**


	7. Sorted

Okay, so I'm a little off-schedule, but I can honestly explain. I've been super busy with a project I'm doing for a friend that I haven't had any time to write! I know, shock, horror, bad bad me. And I'm going to Wallacks tomorrow to hopefully spend the whole day there so I won't be able to write then (my other story's fan are gonna kill me) But enjoy the sorting! And yes, I know that you briefly meet Headmaster Dippet in CoS, but I wanted to make him my own character, more fun this way, and he's less of a Dumbledore copy. Also, Emrysian is a religion totally made up by me, and based off of the few times in the books people mention Merlin's beard, or saggy left... whatever :p Cause Merlin is God (and a very sexy one at that), obviously, and should be worshipped accordingly. And/or ravished, I can't decide which yet. Colin Morgan is just too cute for his own good. Anyway, enjoy! Oh, and chapter four has had a little bit of an update, it won't kill you not to read it, it's just a little different :)

* * *

Kayleigh managed to find herself outside the Headmaster's office with little trouble, the design of the school having been kept the same for the most part. Standing outside to meet her was Professor Dumbledore, observing Kayleigh with no small amount of curiosity and amusement.

"Not having any trouble finding your way around I hope?" he asked genially.

"No, the layout is the same back home." She shrugged.

"Well that's a good thing."

"Jolly good," she sighed, slumping against a stone wall, "but I wish I could be back home right now."

"Well you'll be back at the end of the school year—" Dumbledore began.

"No, not that home." She laughed bitterly. "My _real_ home; the one I lived in when I was in Mexico. It was always sunny there, and everybody was happy, not like here where everybody's miserable and self-loathing. Me too, come to think of it."

"Yes well, I'm sure you'll go back someday." Dumbledore said sympathetically.

"I'm not so sure," she said, "but whatever, take me to your leader and all that."

Dumbledore nodded sagely and turned to an ugly statue of a gargoyle and simply said, "Firewhiskey."

The gargoyle moved away to allow access to a spiral staircase that curved up and up and up. The duo stepped onto the stairs and it immediately began its ascension upwards.

"That's so pointless, why have stairs but turn it into those muggle things, escaplators or whatever?" Kayleigh whined as they were slowly brought towards a heavy door. "It's totally pointless!"

Dumbledore simply ignored her and opened the door to the Headmaster's office with a grand flourish. Kayleigh, who had been inside the Headmaster's office more times than she cared to admit simply stepped inside, suitably unimpressed.

"Ah, you must be Miss, err, Keyras?"

"Quieras," she corrected him sharply, annoyed at the common mispronunciation of her name.

"Yes, rightly so," said the Headmaster, "Anyway, you're new here, and err, Mexican. Good, good, all good. Now, I have to ask you for a matter of your personal safety, not that I care, because I don't, though I do care about all individual students of course, but this isn't a _negative_ concern, simply a necessary one you see… Are you of the muggle Jewish faith?" the Headmaster looked clearly uncomfortable even asking the question, and stared at her expectantly. A quick glance to her left showed her that Dumbledore was doing the same.

"No," she said finally, "but I don't see why it should matter."

The Headmaster (_Dippet, was it?_) breathed a sigh of relief. "Please don't get me wrong Miss Keyras, we accept wizards of all gender, religion, and err, colour, but the muggleborns in the school are at odds with certain groups. You see, there is a muggle war going on, ridiculous thing really- with metal wands and the like, and while it doesn't affect the views of _pureblooded_ witches or wizards, it's having a negative impact on the muggleborns and even a few of the halfbloods. Negative enough to start seventeen fights just on the train ride! And the targets are always the Jewish students so we have had to implement some protective programs for them, and so we just needed to check if you were in need of the same err, protection."

"Well, I most certainly am _not_ Jewish, that's a filthy muggle religion, and they thank their _Gods_ for what is clearly the work of magic!" Kayleigh spat. "I am an Emrysian through and through."

"Yes, yes, I did not mean to imply that you were anything but, I was merely confirming my, err, thought process."

"Yes well, you should know better," she sniffed, "after all, all of the pureblood families are Emrysian, are they not?"

"What? Oh, yes, of course! The old pureblood families are notorious for their belief in the Great Merlin."

"It's not a belief," Kayleigh said dangerously, "it's a fact. Just because the muggles are still debating his existence does _not_ mean that we should too!"

"No, no, of course not, I was never implying that Merlin was not the First Wizard, simply stating that a religion is a belief, no matter the truth behind it." The Headmaster said, getting visibly uncomfortable underneath Kayleigh's accusing stare.

"So, as much fun as this discussion has been, I'm sure Miss Quieras would just like to get all settled in and catch some sleep, am I correct?" Dumbledore interrupted.

"What? Oh, yeah." Said Kayleigh distractedly, still glaring at the Headmaster.

"Yes yes, jolly good I'm sure, but we must first get you sorted. You see, here at Hogwarts we have a fairly unique system, the school is separated into houses, after the four founders you see, and each house is awarded points for good behaviour and points are taken away when you break the rules, you see? The houses are Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw and Slytherin. They each have their own strengths and weaknesses, but when they work together they are virtually invincible!" Headmaster Dippet boasted, a proud smile adorning his face.

"Then why separate them in the first place?" Kayleigh asked, not able to resist the temptation to wipe that smug smile off the Headmaster's face.

"What?"

"If together as a unit they are invincible, then why separate them at all? All you're doing is creating rifts, as one house is sure to think their strengths are greater than the others. You could house them all easily in one area, as opposed to separating them physically _and _emotionally." Kayleigh said, taking pleasure in the Headmaster's distraught face.

"Yes well, let's move on to the sorting, shall we?" Dumbledore interrupted again, this time with a warning glance at Kayleigh.

"Erm, yes." The Headmaster said, striding simply over to the Sorting Hat and picking I up reverently. "See, we don't usually accept transfer students, and I honestly can't remember accepting anyone for this year, but you're here now and there's nothing I can do… So this is all highly unusual, especially with you almost drowning and all."

"Wait, you heard about that?" Kayleigh asked.

"Of course, Madame Berger told me as soon as you came through the doors with Mr. Riddle!"

"Wait, Mr. Riddle? Tom brought me in?" Kayleigh asked in disbelief.

"Yes, Mr. Riddle is our most outstanding and _up_standing student! He's a shoe-in for Head Boy next year!"Headmaster Dippet said proudly, ignoring Kayleigh's snort of disbelief.

"Anyway!" the Headmaster proclaimed loudly. "Let's move on with this shall we? I'm sure you're as eager as I am to get some sleep."

Kayleigh shrugged noncommittally, the last remaining vestiges of pain from the almost-drowning and the time travel keeping her body wide awake like the worst case of jet lag ever.

The Headmaster dropped the sorting hat on her head, the sheer size of it making it slip down her head far past her ears so she had to lift it up and carefully position it on her ears so as to make it fit comfortably.

_Merlin, how big was Gryffindor's head_? She wondered.

_**It was filled with knowledge**__._ Came the Hats reply.

_Yes, yes, of _course, _that's it. Seriously, where've you been? Everybody knows Gryffindor is all brawn and no brain._

_**You speak from experience.**_

_Well, I know the type._

_**I think you do. And that's definitely not **__your __**type.**_

_Oh twenty points to the hat! That's a correct answer! Congratulations._

_**Not a Hufflepuff either then, you'd eat them alive.**_

_Been there, done that._

_**Yes, there is something about you that I can't put my finger on. You're quite different from the other females who've passed through these halls.**_

_What can I say? I'm ahead of my time._

_**That you are. But I wouldn't say you're intelligent—**_

_Oi!_

_**So I guess it'll have to be…**_

"Slytherin!" the Hat called out to the room at large, ending the silent conversation between itself and Kayleigh.

Silence reigned for a few moments before the Headmaster simply raised an eyebrow and said, "Who didn't see that coming?"


End file.
